


The Child In The Tomb

by quin13



Category: Bartimaeus - Jonathan Stroud
Genre: Gen, Ptolemy references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-18
Updated: 2012-11-29
Packaged: 2017-11-16 13:36:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/540013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quin13/pseuds/quin13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bartimaeus and Faquarl have been sent on a mission to search an abandoned tomb for a 'mysterious and powerful artifact', nothing new there. But what'll happen when they find something that doesn't quite belong there? (Request for silver-wolf-demon-girl.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It wasn't a bad outcome all things considered. There'd been an unfortunate mishap when some soldiers had decided to follow us but the run down sandy street where we were currently residing was now deserted*, giving a clear path to our objective i.e. the burial chamber right ahead of us. There was just one problem with this otherwise not-that-bad situation.

(* Mostly due to the aforementioned soldiers being dead at my feet.)

"That was a little violent for you, Bartimaeus," said Faquarl from behind me.

Unfortunately, I'd been lumbered with a companion. Not for the first time either, for the last near enough a century we'd been dragged together in various life threatening situations by various uncouth masters. It was amazing we hadn't killed each other yet*.

(* Especially since we'd been trying to bunk each other off at every nearest opportunity.)

We'd been forced into servitude to our current master for about twenty odd years now; a Roman magician, hook nosed and hunchbacked, he had all the beauty and grace of a landlocked trout*. The mission he'd sent us on was the usual sort, steal artefact of immense power and bring it back to him etc, nothing exciting. Except that it was the first time I'd been in Egypt since the hundred and sixty two years since Ptolemy's death, we weren't even that far from Alexandria.

(* Then again, the same could be said for Faquarl.)

The fat Nubian moved to stand beside me, apparently to assess the damage I'd wrought.

"Bit overzealous weren't you? You didn't even give them a chance to scream."

I shrugged, scanning the Sumerians handsome eyes over the lifeless broken forms of the Egyptian soldiers that scattered the narrow, and now blood spattered, street. "Like you'd have done any different. Besides, the sooner we get this over with the better, right?"

"Still, you're not normally this, bloodthirsty, shall we say. And you could've had the common courtesy to leave one for me."

He was right, annoyingly, it was a bit too much carnage for my usual refined and dignified tastes. Still, you try spending over a decade with Faquarl, see how you fare? Even with my famed patience, his constant sarcasm and boasting would grate on anyone.

"What? Can't I enjoy a bit of wanton destruction? Besides, It's not as if you'd have been any cleaner about it*" I replied making my way towards the mud brick building in front of us, side stepping the puddles of blood.

(* In fact, If they'd ambushed Faquarl there wouldn't have been any bodies, the place would've been scattered with body parts and rather more blood. Probably with a few parts suspiciously missing and him looking a little more pot-bellied even than usual.)

"What's the matter Bartimaeus, you seem a bit out of sorts?"

"The companies just been grating on me for a while, that's all."

"Oh come off it, you've been like this since we were first summoned. You've been even more insufferable than usual and that's saying something; constantly in a bad mood, snapping at everything. You've basically been acting like a natterjack impling for the last 100 years. Frankly, it's even started to get on my nerves." He deniged to follow me to the entrance of the place.

"Really, Faquarl...?" I replied scathingly, examining the wood of the door for any hexes. This place was meant to be cursed and me, in my infinite wisdom, wasn't one to take chances.

Finding nothing that was going to kill us* I kicked it in. It splintered inwards sending shards of wood careering into the darkness beyond. I stepped inside and threw up a few wisp lights to light the place.

(* Not right now anyway. I wouldn't bet on the same outcome once we got in there.)

"...I didn't think you cared?" I finished.

It was a shoddy place, no decoration, the walls weren't even straight. Faquarl could've done a better job. Wrapped bodies lined the walls, shoved into alcoves without the usual adornments or precious items. The whole place was strange in itself though, Egyptians weren't buried in mass graves. It made me half wonder what these people had done.

Then I remembered I didn't care. Well, it was none of our business, all we were looking for was what had been hidden here.

Faquarl had moved past me to go through the archway at the end of the hall. I looked around the room, occasionally pulling bodies out of their resting places to be dumped unceremoniously on the floor. Nothing. There were a couple of old broken pots and other things shoved in there with them but that was it, nothing magical at all. I glanced at the plaques, crudely made and etched, the names of occupants could barely be made out. I moved on.

The next room was no better, just more scattered corpses tucked into holes. My erstwhile companion had moved on long ago to be lost to the rooms further ahead. Thankfully*.

(* With any luck he'd miss a trap and get himself killed for me.)

I spoke too soon.

"Still taking a gander at the dead Bartimaeus? There's nothing there, you only have to look on the seventh plane. It's about as much use as those wisp lights you've thrown up. Honestly, it's like you want people to know we're here." A voice called from what sounded like a couple of rooms ahead of me.

My mood deteriorated dramatically. Not that it wasn't bad in the first place, Faquarl was right grudgingly, my personality hadn't been quite as cheery and upbeat as my usual wont but I wasn't about to tell the djinni who I'd willingly leave to die an undignified death under the backside of an elephant the reason I was in such a fowl temper. Not a chance. I'd never hear the end of it.

"Just being cautious Faquarl. you know, it's better than being dead."

I carried on rummaging around for a bit. Not because I thought there was anything to find* but because it would annoy the spirit in the other room.

(* To be honest, I had as much chance of finding something useful among these mass of bones as I had of finding Nefertiti's anklet in Viking England.)

Then something caught my eye. An alcove near the floor on my right contained a mummy that didn't seem to match the others. It looked newer, dusty and yellowing like the rest, but I'd been around long enough for my keen eyes to make out the slight differences.

Because I was stalling for time and throwing ancient dead guys around the place was getting tiresome* I decided to investigate. I walked over to it, crouched on the dirt floor and slid the thing out of its hiding place to lie on the ground at my feet. It was small, a child maybe (though it probably could've just as easily been an old man), slight with it, with narrow shoulders and a slim frame. Not that old, I guessed a little over a hundred years*. I'd guess the rest were around two thousand. I wondered what the kid had done to be buried with this unsavoury lot...

(* Something so mundane could only keep a spirit of my intellect and rigor entertained for so long.)

(* Which I guess would've been old for you lot, but I'm an ancient djinni of renowned talent and prestige, a hundred years is nothing to me.)

...Ice went through me.

"Bartimaeus, I think I've found it. I don't think our masters going to be too pleased, though." It was Faquarls voice*, irritated and sulky. When I didn't respond he carried on, his grating voice getting progressively louder* as he made his way back to me.

(* As if it would've been anyone else's.)

(* And it had been hard to stomach at a distance.)

"While you've been skulking around back here, as usual, I've searched every room thoroughly. This is all I've managed to find."

He held up what looked like a bronze plate from the archway, it had symbols etched onto it, now well worn away. I barely gave it a glance before turning back to the child I was crouched at the head of.

Faquarl carried on unnoticing, leaning against the brickwork casually. "It's the only thing in here with any sort of magic in it what-so-ever, and it matches the description we were given. I don't think 'renowned object of fearsome power' does it justice though 'Quaint trinket that couldn't maim an injured insect' is more like it. Our masters not going to be best pleased."

I said nothing, just continued staring at the wrapped face, hands clenched into fists by my sides.

"Are you actually being quiet for once?" He noticed the corpse at my feet. "Looks new that one, probably put in here to hide it. Let's face it this is the last place anyone sane would look for anything. Murder most likely." He noticed my expression. "Old master was he?"

"Something like that." I said in a clipped voice.

"Well, whatever he did to anger you so much you'd better put it behind you, we need to go face the wrath of our current master and it's better to get the inevitable over with sooner rather than later."

I spoke then. "No."

"No? Weren't you the one that said..?"

"I need to go do something." I said tonelessly. And with that I stood moved round the body and then bent and picked it up. It didn't give, it stayed stiff and straight, I could've hefted the thing under my arm like it was a plank of wood, but I didn't.

To be honest, I wasn't even sure why I was doing this. It was a body, a corpse, it was about as much Ptolemy as I was. And he didn't deserve it. But he didn't deserve to be left here either, he was better than this.

Faquarl was looking at me blankly. "What are you going to do...?"

But I was through the door at that point, back onto the deserted and decrepit street beyond. There I turned into the glorious roc, all gold and red feathers, the epitome of avian grace and beauty. I picked the boy up carefully in my talons and soared away into the sky.

I heard Faquarl call out in stunned confusion*. I half hoped he wouldn't follow me. No such luck, I heard the beating of wings behind me and turned to see an eagle with all the grace and poise of a flying outhouse in clumsy pursuit.

(* Ok, maybe I was a little pleased at this, that I'd made Faquarl totally lose control of the situation. What can I say.)

I made my way over deserts and cities, old and new. It would've been quite nostalgic had not the dulcet tones of my pursuer been carrying on the wind telling me to stop in terms I certainly won't get into right now, there might be children looking at this*.

(* Then again, any children reading this have probably read and done worse knowing you lot.)

So I sailed on the wind, expertly blocking out the noise that was Faquarl for the most part and looking round with my expert eyes for a suitable destination. About two hours later one came into view


	2. Chapter 2

I swooped down, landing with my usual grace and elegance, Faquarl landing behind me like a rock dropped from high altitude. We stood in front of a mastaba*, it was small, humble*, probably built for a priest or other official. It wasn't exactly my taste, I would've picked a flashier one and booted one of the old kings out but I didn't think Ptolemy would've wanted something that big and grand.*

(* Mastaba – Tombs for the rich population of Egypt before pyramids were thought up; for the public who could afford them afterwards, i.e. almost everyone in high office except the pharaohs, they got one better. They looked like normal buildings for the most part. Understandably, this sometimes caused problems for certain djinn that weren't familiar with certain areas.)

(* Well, as humble as upper-class Egyptian tombs got, which meant it was about as small and dainty as an entire shopping complex plus the five storey car park attached to it.)

(* He'd have probably called me pretentious if I'd suggested it. Honestly, the great Bartimaeus of Uruk pretentious.)

"What do you think you're doing?" Said Faquarl, angry and incredulous. He must have thought I'd gone mad*.

(* He'd said as much with his tirade of obscenities while we were in the air. All two hours of it.)

"Just a little errand I need to do Faquarl, nothing to worry your head about. Do yourself a favour and go back. Just think, you can have a nibble at them corpses while you're waiting." I picked the mummy up from the sand with some care.

"'Do yourself a favour?' Really? Was that a threat?" There was a warning note to his voice now, not just bemused anger but actual fury. This wasn't working very well. I changed tactics.

"No, Faquarl, it wasn't. Now stop being an idiot and leave." Ok maybe not so much a change of tactics, but my tone did change from one of levelled calm to one of annoyance. That has to count for something, right?

"What the hell's wrong with you? Who is that anyway?"

I didn't turn to look at him, I looked at the corpse in my arms instead. I was glad his face was wrapped, not because I'd be bothered seeing his sunken decayed face*, it just seemed more dignified somehow.

(* Trust me I've seen and done worse. Remember Khaba's finger? Now remember what I said in regards to Khaba's finger?)

"He's no one, Faquarl." I said in a tone of perfect nonchalance. "Nothing for you to concern yourself about."

"Please, Bartimaeus, a blind leper could see through you're fake nonchalance. Now, why don't you just explain what exactly you're doing right now?"*

(* I'd just carried a corpse across the desert to alight in front of a tomb, you'd think it would've been obvious wouldn't you? Apparently Faquarl was a bit denser than most as well as being not nice to look at. It would've been nice to throw that blind leper comment back in his face right then but I'm above such childish behaviour.)

"Come on, he must be someone? What did he do stipple you too much? Worst master you've ever had and you want some payback? What are you even going to do to him anyway? This is a tomb, and I'm sorry to break it to you but it's a bit late to try and bury him alive, or are you going to actually bury him or something?* Turned into Ammet have you?" He laughed coldly. I turned my head to face him for the first time since we'd landed, his fat Nubian face was stretched unattractively* in a false grin. He was waiting for the retort.

(* Apparently, he does have a brain cell.)

(* Not that it had ever been attractive to start with. In fact, if you'd have made comparison between him and a cadaver on which was the easiest to look at I'd have gone with the corpse.)

I didn't comment, just looked at him, expression dark. I had nothing to say*. This was all a joke to him, he was goading me, wanting me to get offended and throw a comeback. Did the great Bartimaeus of Uruk rise to his jibes? Not a chance. I'm above such petty behaviour. That and the fact a witty and eloquent retort could've given the game away; and the last thing I wanted was for Faquarl to know about Ptolemy.

(* For once.)

Instead I turned back round to carry on walking.

"Was he pretty Bartimaeus? You always were one for a pretty face, remember Asmira and the gorge, or even Nefertiti, I swear, the things I heard about her. I never thought you'd sink this far though."

I restrained from rolling my eye's with difficulty, always with Nefertiti*. He was starting to grate on me now. I wanted to start walking back towards the tomb but my feet wouldn't move.

(* The whole business was wildly over exaggerated. It wasn't my fault she relied on me so much, or that palace gossip spread and Ankhenaten had gotten jealous, was it? I'd almost been killed for that and I hadn't done anything! OK, I may have enjoyed the attention a tiny bit but, I swear it was all her. Mostly.)

"Or did he win your trust, Bartimaeus?..." I paused where I was, Faquarl's voice carrying on the wind behind me.

"Treat you with false kindness, maybe?" I heard the laughter in his voice. My sculpted shoulders tensed.

"Did he tell you he cared, that he wouldn't use punishments? That must've been a trial with your personality. It must have been a trial to get you on side, saying that. What did he do, tell you you were equals? Whispered nice words in your ear whilst giving you orders?" Did I rise to him? No I kept shtum.*

(* Albeit with difficulty.)

"What's the matter, Bartimaeus? You've gone a bit quiet? Sorry, am I being a bit inconsiderate of your dead friend? My mistake."

"Faquarl..." I growled, voice quiet. So much for being schtum, but even me with my famed patience and poise can only go so far. Besides, I was pretty sure I was shaking with incandescent rage by that point.

"Come to think about it, that would explain why you've been even more insufferable than usual these last couple of decades, wouldn't it?"

Call it the trauma of losing him, call it the strain of my long spell on earth, call it having to listen to Faquarl's droning monotone for more than ten seconds, but either way, I'd had enough. That was it. I dropped the mummy to the sand shaking with rage, spinning round, handsome face twisted into a snarl. The most powerful detonation I'd ever mustered shot through the air, hitting the Nubian straight in the stomach sending him flying backwards, bits of essence trailing behind him like confetti. He landed on the sand several feet away skidding to a halt and lay there steaming.

Unfortunately not for long, the Nubian was already starting to push himself upright before I'd lowered my hands.

I was too angry to be fearful of the repercussions by then. I'd walked* over to him before he'd gotten to his feet, looming over him, my shadow casting across him ominously*.

(* Walked was probably a bit optimistic, stormed with all the calm and tranquillity of a murderous gorilla would probably have been a better description.)

(* All hokum of course, once Faquarl had recovered from the shock of my blatant audacity he was going to buff the tomb walls with my ragged essence.)

"Yeah, I cared for him! We were friends. Apparently, we were equals, we were so much equals that he disregarded everything he'd ever said about it and forced me to do something, even when I'd told him no. But yeah, Faquarl, I still cared about him!"*

(* Ok, so I'll admit it wasn't the most eloquent comeback I'd ever come out with.)

He sat there, any thought of getting to his feet forgotten, staring up at me with the wide eyes of a particularly ugly looking fish, dumbstruck, clearly too much so to form a coherent sentence. I didn't wait for him to recover. Turning, I walked back to the bandaged child lying on the sand, picked him back up and made my way to the building beyond, pausing only to blow the sealed doors open before disappearing inside.

I thought I faintly heard the words 'you're insane!' shouted behind me once I'd been engulfed by darkness but I couldn't quite be sure.

Eventually I found the right place*, a large wide room with art decorating the walls and a sarcophagus on a dais in the middle with other bits and bobs around it. It wasn't perfect, some of the walls looked a bit shoddly done, but it hadn't been broken into by vandals* and I had the distinct impression it would've been to Ptolemy's taste.

(* You have no idea how maze like these tombs are, they're rooms and rooms of pointless gold and jewels and statues, and that's not even mentioning the magical traps. I don't know why they use them, any trespassers would die of starvation before they got anywhere.)

(* Not really surprising this, it had taken all my extensive wit and cunning to navigate my way here. Whoever designed this place was overzealously paranoid of intruders.)

I lay the boy down on the floor again, checking for damage from my outburst, before moving over to the sarcophagus. It took a few seconds to get it open but it slid off eventually revealing the gnarled remains of its occupant. I didn't take too much time looking at the thing, I picked it up and shoved it in a corner behind one of several* statues that hung round the corners of the room, nice and neatly so you'd never know it was there.

(* Slightly deformed looking)

Then I turned back to Ptolemy, lying on the dusty floor a couple of feet away. I could only hope Faquarl hadn't followed me in here*.

(* I hoped he'd turned heel and gone back in disgust but the chances weren't great. With any luck though he might've gotten lost in this place and got himself killed by a trap.)

I'd regret my outburst later, in fact, I already did but there was no time to dwell on that now*. I went over to the small fragile thing lying on the floor and moved it over to the sarcophagus, placing it in there with care so as not to do the boy more injury.

(* No, I had better things to dwell on.)

I looked at it for a while. Ptolemy's body. It was just a corpse, nothing really, it wasn't him after all, the boy that I'd known had long since disappeared from this living world. There was no reason to be sentimental over it.

Especially after what he'd done. After all his talk of us being equals, being friends, there being no balance of power...

"What happened to your ideals, Ptolemy? Did you think of them when you forced me to leave you there?" I said the words with more exasperation than anger though, I was tired of being angry.

"Well, I knew you were soft-headed when it came to humans, Bartimaeus, but really, I never thought you'd stoop this low. I'll admit I'm shocked." So much for the trap idea. I turned to face my companion, he was standing in the doorway* not quite coming into the room as if that somehow distanced himself from the scene in front of him.

(* I.e. A hole in the wall I'd made with a detonation. Well, I'd gotten sick of running round in circles. I wasn't in the mood, ok. Totally understandable, Ptolemy would've forgiven me.)

"Well, get it over with?"

"What? You think I'm going to attack you in here?"

"No, that pathetic one liner you're just dying to come out with right now?"

"Oh, please, do you really think I'd stoop to your level of wit?"

"What are you here for then, Faquarl? If you're not going to kill me."

"Because, much to my utter chargrin, I've decided to take pity on you."

This threw me. "What?"

"Come now Bartimaeus, you said it yourself, this magician, whoever he was, was just as bad as the rest. All that talk of being equals and he completely disregarded it didn't he? That's basically what you said outside, isn't it? Surely this should prove to you that all of them are the same."

"No, he wasn't." I said through gritted teeth.*

(* Well, there was no point pretending my little, completely justified, outburst hadn't happened.)

"Bartimaeus, see sense. He was a magician, corrupt, cruel. He said what he thought you wanted to hear, maybe it was an experiment, either way you fell for it."

"Mention him again and I don't care whether you leave my essence to rot in a silver pot, I swear you won't get out of here in one piece!"

The Nubians face twisted in anger. "Honestly, show you a pair of child's doe eyes and your hooked. He was as much of a typical magician as the rest, you just refuse to see it!"

I stormed up to him, my tone like ice. "No, you know what he did, Faquarl? Yes, he forced me to do something. Yes, he took that decision from me but he took it from me to save my life. You see, Faquarl, I should be dead right now, we were trapped, djinn on all sides, no way out. I couldn't fight them off, we were both going to die, I was ready for it. But there was a way out for one of us and after all that talk of equality he decided to take that decision off me! I told him no and he still did it! He dismissed me! He let himself die instead of letting me try to save him! It was a gift, Faquarl, not an order!"

He was speechless for a time. I truly wondered what he'd say next, it was going to be priceless. Telling him was almost worth seeing the look on his face. Almost.

"You're lying. You think I don't know that, you just want me to go away. Well, if you don't want to accept the truth then so be it, be your Egyptian boys pet."*

(* My mouth probably fell open in stunned silence at this.)

And with that he turned and left through the hole, back the way he'd entered. It wasn't what I'd wanted him to say, truthfully I didn't know how I'd wanted him to respond. It was a bit disappointing really, but it was still better than I could've hoped for; I wasn't dead and maybe he'd leave it alone. I couldn't bring myself to care much either way though.

I turned back to the sarcophagus, my attention back to the form inside. I was so tired of being angry at him, tired of hating him. Maybe it was time to just accept it; it was a gift, I'd known it was all along. He'd done it to save me, I just hadn't wanted to admit it. I'd have done the same for him.

I sat there for a while, a long while, the Sumerian's toned back leaning against the cold stone of Ptolemy's second-hand coffin. I wasn't sure whether it was because I wanted to stay with this piece of Ptolemy for at least a bit longer or because I just loathed the idea of having to face Faquarl*; or I just wanted to make Faquarl wait.

(* More than usual I mean. Let's face it, I always loathed having to face Faquarl.)

Eventually, I knew I had to move, he would only put up with the wait for so long. I got up and moved round the dais to push the lid back on taking one last look at the mummified boy inside*. Then there was a grating sound as the lid slid into place and Ptolemy's body was gone from sight. The Sumerians hand lingered on the lid for a couple of moments before I made my way back out.

(* You couldn't tell the damage the other place had wrought on him through the bandages. For some reason I was happy about that.)

It was dark by the time I'd made my way outside, stars twinkling in the darkness. I was surprised I hadn't been summoned back. The fat Nubian was nowhere in sight*. I busied myself repairing the door I'd had to take down to get in, taking more time and care than I usually would've* to make sure nobody would be getting in anytime soon.

(* Thankfully.)

(* In fact, I don't think I'd ever taken so much care building anything in my long and lustrous career.)

I examined my handiwork for a couple of minutes to kill some more time and then deciding I couldn't put it off any longer I changed back into the most noble roc and flew off into the night, plumage glinting in the starlight. It was time to find Faquarl.

After two hours* of looking I gave up. I hadn't the foggiest where he'd swanned off to. After flying round for half an hour* after that scanning the scenery from on high for signs of the Nubian slave and finding nothing* I gave up and landed by a small oasis somewhere on the outskirts of the city in a patch of desert.

(* Ok, it was about ten minutes.)

(* I was sure I hadn't missed him, not with my keen eye, then again a cataract suffering granny could've spotted him with that guise of his.)

I turned back into the Sumerian, ringlets artfully dishevelled by the wind, and sat on a nearby rock. I had no idea what I was supposed to do next, sitting and waiting until morning to be summoned sounded the best bet though. I sent up a wisp light and looked around, the white light casting shadows on the rocks and shrubbery around me and glinting off the water. The place was deserted, the city I'd left far off in the distance.

It was nice to be alone. I leaned forward and looked at my handsome face in the water. The pleasing curve of the lips, the canted eyes, perfect skin. For some reason it didn't appeal anymore, the lustre fake somehow, superficial. I changed.

Smiled at the reflection in front of me; Small, slim, dark skinned, dark eyed, wide eyed and innocent. The way he'd looked before the other place had damaged him. How I wanted to remember him.

It didn't take long after that for the familiar tug of the summons to come, a couple of hours at most. I gave into it willingly, leaving the pink sky of dawn and the sun rising over the horizon of the desert.

This was going to be an interesting reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: OK, how many of you guessed what this was about from the title? I did try not to make it too obvious but it's difficult with it being the plot and all. I think I failed.
> 
> I wrote this after I told silver-wolf-demon-girl that I wondered how Faquarl ever found out about Ptolemy cause I couldn't imagine Bart ever willingly telling him anything. So I came up with 'he goaded him till he blurted it out'. So she requested that I write it. I decided to mesh it in with another plot I had which was Bart finding Ptolemy's body, and got this. I hope you all liked it.
> 
> Please review :D

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading. I don't think Bartimaeus was quite as in character as in my last fic, in all honesty, i would've given up on it if it hadn't been a request. Still, I really hope you liked it. And please leave me a review :D


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